Internship - Humanitarian Shelter & Settlements Fellow

Habitat for Humanity
$19,000 each (made up of $10,000 for stipend and up to $9,000 for travel related expenses if necessary) to support graduate research.
United States, D.C., Washington
Oct 27, 2024
USAID/BHA GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS IN HUMANITARIAN SHELTER AND SETTLEMENTS - 2022 COHORT Background: The US Agency for International Development Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/ BHA) is the lead US federal coordinator for international disaster assistance, and a leading participant in the global humanitarian community. USAID/BHA currently seeks to enhance its leadership efforts, improve its response programming in the humanitarian Shelter and Settlements (S&S) sector, increase the awareness of the sector in North America, and expand career options for those interested in S&S sector activities. USAID/BHA views S&S sector activities broadly to include not only provision of shelter to disaster/crisis-affected populations, but also the linked activities of settlements planning, disaster risk reduction, natural resource management, climate change adaptation, and proximate economic factors. USAID/BHA has also contributed to emerging humanitarian community interest in the Settlements Approach (integrated, multi-sector activities in socio-economically defined space), particularly in urban areas, and the linkage of this approach to follow-on recovery and reconstruction efforts. Fellowship Description: USAID/BHA seeks to motivate fellows to professionally engage in the humanitarian S&S sector by supporting the thesis or professional report writing efforts of three fellows during 2022. Fellows will be graduate students currently enrolled full-time in accredited North American graduate school programs or US citizens studying abroad in similar graduate programs, in the following disciplines: City, Urban, Environmental, or Regional Planning, and Architecture or Architectural engineering Civil or Environmental Engineering Or similar disciplines Ideally, successful candidates would be first-year, Masters-level, graduate students, in the programs listed above, who are interested in commencing work on a thesis or professional report as a requirement for graduation. The topic of this graduate student research would be focused on any of the following topics of interest: Wider Impacts - Measuring the contribution of shelter and settlements assistance to wider humanitarian outcomes in conflict and disasters contexts, especially with regard to livelihoods, physical and mental health, social cohesion, gender and society, risk from hazards and access to basic services. Long Term Recovery - Managing the transition of crisis affected households to longer term recovery in conflict and disasters contexts. Housing, Land and Property (HLP) - Ways of navigating land and property rights, security of tenure, and administration issues to support households to secure their rights to use, occupy, own, rent, or transfer shelter in conflict and disasters contexts. Space Standards - How to establish a more contextualized measures of shelter density in settlements in conflict and disasters contexts. Self-Recovery - How can markets support shelter self-recovery in conflict and disasters contexts. Cash and Markets - How households effectively use cash to secure and support their shelter and settlements in conflict and disasters contexts. Measures to increase "coverage": the level of assistance in response to identified humanitarian shelter and settlements needs, or to more effectively use resources. Environment - Linking and incorporating climate change adaptation measures and hazard mitigation efforts into settlements planning to promote disaster risk reduction. Graduate work on any of the above topics could entail travel to Washington, D.C., USA, or to sites in other countries. Work could also be performed at the home universities of graduate fellows, but field research is preferred and highly encouraged if it is safe to do so (provided there are no travel restrictions in place in the selected country and fellows should accomplish all needed vaccination and insurance requirements). Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) is collaborating with USAID/BHA to support these graduate student fellowships. The home university graduate student research/professional report advisor will oversee and be responsible for the quality, progress, and completion of the research and final deliverables. Both USAID/BHA and HFHI will receive e-copies of approved theses and professional reports from graduate students, encourage fellows to publish work in peer-review journals and humanitarian publications, host an end-of-project presentation of the research work, and would welcome the opportunity to serve on thesis or professional report committees. Awards: USAID/BHA anticipates three awards of up to $19,000 each (made up of $10,000 for stipend and up to $9,000 for travel related expenses if necessary) to support graduate research. Awards will support fellowship research for approximately ten months and cover basic expenses that might include travel, lodging and research-related costs (e.g., medical evacuation insurance, visas, vaccinations, etc.). USAID/BHA, through HFHI, will provide basic administrative support for the graduate students. All fellowship activities must be undertaken expeditiously and completed by January 30th, 2023. Award Process: Specific workspace assignments in Washington, DC, should they be needed, might be arranged by USAID/BHA, subject to applicable public safety requirements and travel restrictions at the time. It is anticipated that graduate students will spend the bulk of the summer at their home universities or at field sites, rather than in Washington, DC. The selected candidates may be able to travel to proposed field sites while receiving fellowship support, subject to safety requirements, travel restrictions and the discretion of HFHI. Selected fellows will be required to adhere to the HFHI Accountability Framework and Safeguarding Policy and undertake the Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Training, and if the research work will involve direct contact with communities affected by disasters, a background check will be required. Application Process: Candidates will submit a CV, a two-page statement of proposed work (including an executive summary), a reference from their thesis or professional report advisor, and a statement from the advisor confirming that the statement of proposed work will directly support the candidate's thesis or professional report topic. A review committee representing HFHI, USAID/BHA and the InterAction Shelter & Settlements Working Group will be formed to identify successful candidates for this fellowship. Applications and supporting documents must be submitted by 5:00 PM EST, Friday, February 18th, 2022. Applications from women and minority candidates are strongly encouraged. Please attach the above-mentioned documents (pdf or MS Word) to disaster@habitat.org with the subject line "SHELTER FELLOWSHIPS-LastName". Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No phone calls or email inquiries, please.